The Benefits of Working Exclusively with a Recruitment Agency

It’s not unusual for hiring managers to believe that working with five or six Recruitment Agencies is an advantage and can even give you a competitive edge when it comes to sourcing a shining new addition. In fact, as many Recruiters know, this can sometimes be a sticking point when forming partnerships with hiring managers who may be thinking…

“Why is exclusivity so important?”

“How would this benefit me?”

“We could save money working with other agencies”

It may seem like we are being selfish and do not want to share our clients, but the reality is, using multiple Recruitment Agencies can actually work against your best interests.

From a client’s perspective, it has long been the general consensus that using more than one recruiter is the most efficient way to fill a vacancy, but this may no longer be the case.

Recruitment isn’t just about finding a candidate that’s in the right place at the right time, it’s about finding the perfect match to for you, your team, your goals and culture, which can’t be grasped from a five-minute conversation. Finding the right talent takes time and focus to ensure both you and the candidate are perfectly suited to transform the future of your business together.

A common myth that hiring managers believe is:

‘Engaging several recruiting firms provides my company access to more qualified candidates’

Whilst this may result in more candidates, it won’t necessarily result in more qualified candidates, here’s why…

There are two types of job candidates —active and passive:

Passive candidates are often the best qualified but don’t necessarily respond to advertisements, post their CV’s on job boards or register with recruiting firms.

Active candidates are on multiple job boards and register with multiple recruiting firms. This tells you that all the recruiting firms you recruit through are probably going to be looking at the same limited talent pool and bringing you the same active candidates and that these are probably a lot of the same candidates you could have found on your own.

With a global talent shortage, you need a credible Recruitment Agency that goes deeper than the readily available candidate pool. It may be a better option to engage with a firm that excels in networking, has long-standing credible relationships in the area you intend to recruit, and has an established database of candidates in your industry. Working on an exclusive basis gives your Recruiter the motivation and ability to put in place a bespoke strategy just for you.

Another main belief is that:

‘When recruiters know they are competing against each other, they’ll work harder and produce better results’

Giving a position to six different recruiters is effectively sending the message: “You each only have a small amount of my commitment.” Most companies don’t realise that they will only get a certain amount of effort in return, as strategic recruiters will work on the easiest placements first.

From past experience, when recruiters know they are working against other like-minded recruiters, it can become a race, and not always a race for quality as a recruiter will want to impress you by submitting candidates the quickest. This can become an issue as you may just double YOUR workload by having to sift through a pile of applications that aren’t necessarily right for your role.

The most successful hiring practices emerge when an honest partnership is built with a Recruiter who becomes an extension of your company. They know exactly what type of candidate you need to further improve your business.

At Cummins Mellor, our objective is to understand your strategic goals and develop long-term relationships. By getting to know you we can gain a full understanding of your needs and thus work
more efficiently. By agreeing to commit to us 100%, we will be able to complete our aim, which is to find you the best talent that will eventually transform your company’s future.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss recruitment in more detail, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.